Bulls Notes: Payne, McDermott, Mirotic, Hoiberg
Doug McDermott‘s return to Chicago tonight as a member of the Knicks gave Bulls fans an unpleasant reminder of the Cameron Payne trade, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Payne appeared in just 11 games after being acquired from the Thunder in that five-player deal and hasn’t played at all this season as he recovers from offseason foot surgery.
Coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters tonight that an X-ray on Payne last week showed improvement, but he still isn’t able to run or cut and probably can’t play full-court games for at least six weeks. Cowley suggests it will take Payne at least a couple of weeks to get in shape after that, which pushes his return date back to sometime in mid-February.
“He came at a very difficult time last year with a veteran team, and just had his struggles,” Hoiberg said. “At the same time we’re competing for a playoff spot and it’s a tough time to come in and make an impact. For Cam, the big thing is to stay positive through this stretch, and to get him back and have some positive moments for us when we’re going down the stretch.’’
There’s more tonight from Chicago:
- McDermott was surprised by the trade that sent him to Oklahoma City at last season’s deadline, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. He was in the middle of his most productive season, averaging 10.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, when the deal occurred. “It was hard leaving because of all the people I liked here,” he said. “But I wish them the best. It was a great organization to play for.”
- Now that Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis have put aside hard feelings over their preseason altercation, they should expect to remain teammates for the rest the season, Johnson writes in a mailbag column. The Bulls found a “non-existent” trade market for both players after Mirotic threatened not to return to the team unless Portis was dealt. The Bulls also found no interest in Mirotic when they shopped him prior to last year’s deadline, and no other organization offered him a significant deal as a restricted free agent this summer.
- Rumors about Hoiberg’s firing have persisted almost from the time he became the Bulls’ head coach, but he is safe for this season, Johnson adds in the same piece. The front office likes how he has handled a collection of young talent, and he has done better with assigning roles and holding players accountable for their performance. Hoiberg has two more seasons left on his contract.
Carmelo Anthony Accepts Smaller Role
- The Thunder haven’t exactly hit the ground running since pairing Carmelo Anthony and Paul George with Russell Westbrook. Now Anthony, the elderstatesman of the trio, has started coming to terms with the fact that his days of being the undisputed No. 1 option may be behind him. “For the most part, it’s just accepting the fact that you’re not going to be the man every single night or have to be the man every single night,” Anthony told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “So for me, I’ve accepted that.”
Jazz Coach Believes Thunder Will Be Fine
- Snyder is among the believers that the Thunder’s mix of talent will eventually be successful, relays Mike Sorensen of The Deseret News. Early results have been disappointing in Oklahoma City after offseason trades teamed Paul George and Carmelo Anthony with Russell Westbrook, but OKC extended its winning streak to three games by beating Utah last night. “Any time you have a new teams it takes time to develop cohesiveness and an indentity,” Snyder said. “They’re a heckuva team. It’s a mistake to judge any team at this time of the year.”
Nazr Mohammed Joins Thunder’s Front Office
Longtime NBA center Nazr Mohammed has officially moved on to the next phase of his career, announcing in a piece for The Players’ Tribune that he has joined the Thunder in a front office capacity. According to Mohammed, he started working for the Thunder last month, having accepted a role as a professional evaluation scout/identification and intelligence.
Mohammed’s new title is somewhat inscrutable, which is unsurprising coming from a Thunder team that recently re-hired Rob Hennigan as its “executive vice president of insight and foresight.” However, Mohammed calls the job “a great opportunity to learn all the aspects of the business and become a well-rounded basketball executive,” adding that his goal is to one day become a general manager of an NBA franchise.
As Mohammed writes in his article for The Players’ Tribune, his relationship with Thunder general manager Sam Presti dates back to the mid-2000s, when Mohammed played in San Antonio and Presti served as the Spurs’ assistant GM. The veteran center later spent the final season of his playing career with the Thunder, so it makes sense that he’d return to the franchise to begin his career as an executive with the team.
Mohammed, 40, entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick out of Kentucky in 1998. Over the next 18 years, he appeared in more than 1,000 regular season games and another 88 postseason contests, spending time with the Sixers, Hawks, Knicks, Spurs, Pistons, Bobcats, Thunder, and Bulls.
And-Ones: Ayton, Thunder Trades, Wagering, Ball
Arizona freshman center DeAndre Ayton could be the No. 1 overall pick in June, according to Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. The 7’1” Ayton has proven to be a highly productive for the otherwise disappointing Wildcats, averaging 20.4 PPG, 11.4 RPG and 1.4 BPG in his first eight college games. He has a 7-foot-5 wingspan and has shown a high basketball IQ, Brigham continues. At worst, Ayton should be a top-three lock, Brigham adds.
In other news involving the league:
- The trade packages the Knicks and Pacers received from the Thunder in blockbuster deals this offseason have proven to be far better than expected, as ESPN’s Kevin Pelton notes. Center Enes Kanter, the best player the Knicks got back in the Carmelo Anthony trade, is a good fit as Kristaps Porzingis‘ frontcourt partner, while Porzingis has thrived as a No. 1 option in Pelton’s analysis. Victor Oladipo has actually outperformed Paul George in his expanded role with Indiana, according to Pelton’s metrics. The other player the Pacers received in the deal, center Domantas Sabonis, has improved sharply while playing more often in the post than he did in Oklahoma City, Pelton adds.
- The league and several owners have positioned themselves to cash in on expanded betting on its games, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst examines in an in-depth piece. The league would prefer changes in current federal laws and the creation of a unified commission to oversee the expanded betting operations, Windhorst continues. The Hornets’ Michael Jordan, the Wizards’ Ted Leonsis and the Mavs’ Mark Cuban have recently invested in a company focused on real-time data distribution, which would facilitate in-game wagering, Windhorst adds.
- Lonzo Ball‘s younger brother LiAngelo Ball has no chance of being selected if he declares for next June’s draft, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. LiAngelo Ball would have trouble finding a spot in any professional league, including the G-League, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter links). UCLA announced on Monday that the younger Ball intends to leave the program, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic tweets. The freshman was arrested along with two teammates in China on shoplifting charges and suspended by the school after being allowed to return to the United States.
Thunder Notes: Donovan, Westbrook, Roberson, George
The bumpy start continues in Oklahoma City as coach Billy Donovan tries to mesh Paul George and Carmelo Anthony into a cohesive unit with Russell Westbrook, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Although they are all exceptional scorers, there are concerns that they don’t fit well together, and so far Westbrook [.400] and Anthony [.422] are posting their worst field goal percentages since they were rookies. Donovan continues to experiment with different combinations off the bench as the Thunder have stumbled to a 9-12 start.
“He has a style that he knows works, and we’re all in with Billy on it,” George said. “But again, he’s good with wanting what’s best for us and wanting what’s gonna make us comfortable out there.”
There’s more out of Oklahoma City:
- Horne offers grades for all the Thunder players through the first quarter of the season in a separate story, and the reigning MVP only gets a B-minus. Westbrook has adjusted his game to accommodate George and Anthony and is still searching for the right balance between taking over games and setting up his teammates, Horne says. Anthony also gets a B-minus, while George receives an A.
- A change in the starting lineup might be the answer to OKC’s early-season slump, suggests Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. He proposes replacing defensive specialist Andre Roberson with a better shooter such as Alex Abrines or Terrance Ferguson to create more spacing for the first unit. Donovan increased Ferguson’s minutes this week and gave Dakari Johnson a shot in Wednesday’s loss to Orlando, but he doesn’t seem ready to change the pairing of Westbrook, George, Anthony, Roberson and Steven Adams that has started every game this season. “I think that what happens in these situations is sometimes people look for the change for the sake of change because it looks like you’re doing something,” Donovan said. “I’ve always been a big believer of pinpointing what the issues and the challenges are that we’ve got to overcome.”
- Magic coach Frank Vogel, who coached George in Indiana, described his former star as “selfless” in trying to make the union with Westbrook and Anthony successful, relays John Denton of NBA.com. He said the Thunder will benefit from George’s defensive abilities, which he described as “Allen Iverson’s instincts in Scottie Pippen’s body.’’
Roberson May Be Awkward Fit In Starting Lineup
The Thunder’s slow start reached a new low tonight with a loss in Orlando, leaving a team expected to be among the NBA’s best after trading for Paul George and Carmelo Anthony with an 8-12 record and a 2-9 mark on the road. Part of the problem, suggests Erik Horne of The Oklahoman, is that Andre Roberson is an awkward fit in the starting lineup.
Oladipo Was Upset By Criticism Of Summer Trade
Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic admitted to having memory loss after being punched by teammate Bobby Portis, relays Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago. Mirotic met with the media today and publicly forgave Portis for the skirmish that left him hospitalized with two facial fractures. He said the organization reached out to him in the wake of the incident, as head coach Fred Hoiberg and assistant Jim Boylen visited him in the hospital and GM Gar Forman made several calls.
“Everybody was worried about me,” Mirotic said. “So I did feel support and I appreciated that from the front office. Now their goal is to make me get back in the game. I’m working on that.”
There’s more tonight from the Central Division:
- Mirotic and Zach LaVine will get some work in the G League before they take the court for the Bulls, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Both players are practicing with the team’s Windy City affiliate while the Bulls are on a road trip. Hoiberg said a late-December return is most likely for LaVine, who is recovering from an ACL tear he suffered last season. “He didn’t do a lot [at Tuesday’s practice],” Hoiberg said of LaVine. “He was really sore, especially in the hamstrings and quads. He’s itching to get back. He’s a competitor. But we have to be really careful about not overloading him.”
- Business decisions have taken Dwyane Wade to unexpected places over the past two seasons, but he tells Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel that he’s happy to be with the Cavaliers. After 13 years in Miami, Wade signed with the Bulls in 2016, then came to Cleveland this season after to agreeing to a buyout with Chicago just before training camp. “Obviously, you don’t know what’s going to happen from day to day,” Wade said. “This career path we all chose in the NBA, you just don’t know what’s going to happen with it. For me, I’m OK and I’m content with what I’ve done for 13 years. Did I think it was gonna shake out this way? No. But I’m not sitting here crying about it neither.”
- Victor Oladipo admits to being upset over criticism of the trade that sent him and Domantas Sabonis to the Pacers in exchange for Paul George, relays Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. “Of course it bothers me,” Oladipo said. “But people’s opinions, they are what they are. I can’t control that. All I can control is how hard I work.”
Terrance Ferguson Gets New Opportunity
- Rookie Terrance Ferguson got his first taste of serious first-half action this weekend and didn’t shy away from the opportunity, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes. The guard set a season high with 21 minutes played in the Thunder‘s Saturday night loss.
Jackson Happy To Win In Oklahoma City
- Friday’s win at Oklahoma City was important to Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson, who spent the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Thunder before a 2015 trade to Detroit. “It was definitely special because I haven’t won in this building – except for playing here and being on this team, but I hadn’t won in this building with this team,” Jackson told Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. “It’s good to get a team win like that and have these guys’ backs and find a way to get one is special.”